'Songs of the Season' Spreads Christmas Cheer

December 06, 2013

WILMORE, Ky. — “Songs of the Season,” an annual celebration of Christmas music and literature at Asbury University, might best be summed up by the words of one woman to a friend as she prepared to leave after the performance: “Now we can do Christmas!” Clickhereto watch a video from the event!

Songs of the Season featured Asbury's Women's Choir, Choral, Men's Glee Club and Orchestra, as well as English faculty.

Asbury students, faculty and staff in the English and Music Departments put together a program that spanned medieval carols to contemporary poetry. Selections from the Men’s Glee Club, Women’s Choir, Asbury Chorale and Orchestra combined with congregational carols to create a participatory service of celebration and anticipation. Readings by English faculty included selections from poets such as Longfellow, Tennyson and Asbury’s own Dr. Marcia Hurlow.

In addition to parents and friends of the performers, the audience included members of the community who braved a winter downpour to attend, as well.

Bob and Peggy Thurman live in a retirement community a few miles from campus and were initially attracted to Asbury’s cultural offerings through the ensembles that have performed in their community center.

“They’re always so good,” said Peggy, who has herself participated in a variety of choirs throughout her life. “We moved here two years ago, and if there’s music at Asbury, we’re there.”

Beyond the quality of the music, Bob was impressed at the good time the musicians seemed to be having in presenting the program.

“They seem to enjoy it so much,” he said. “There’s a relationship between the conductor and students that shows a real warmth.”

From familiar favorites such as “Go Tell It on the Mountain” to a finale of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” that featured the combined efforts of the nearly 150 students in the different ensembles, the program set the tone for the holiday season. As Henry Nduati, a local resident who recently moved to Wilmore from central Kenya, said, “Music is another form of preaching.”